maxx58 Posted December 12, 2014 Share Posted December 12, 2014 Did my first extension of stay yesterday at Laksi Immigration in Bangkok. Arrived at 9:05 am, got my number and waited around until my number was called at around 11:30. Things I gave the officer: Passport Completed TM.7 form Income affidavit from US Embassy Photocopies of the following pages: Identity page, original Visa (O-A), last entry stamp, first entry stamp, departure card (TM.6) Proof of residence. In my case, a letter written in Thai from the condo where I rent Fee of 1,900 Baht While the officer was putting together all the paperwork she gave two forms to fill out. Something about acknowledging the overstay rules. She gave them to my girlfriend to fill out and I just signed them. Then she passed me to another officer who stamped my passport and I am good until next year. I also wanted to get a re-entry permit on my new extension of stay but when I got to the ticket counter it was time for lunch so I had to come back after 1pm. Even though there was a line formed, when the door opened everyone just rushed in. Pretty chaotic! Got my number and waited. Although I had a high number the woman who was handling this process was very quick. She checked the paperwork and then gave me back my number and told me to wait until called again. So I waited, and waited, and waited... for about two hours until they gave me back my stamped passport with a new re-entry permit. The whole process took over six hours, almost all of it waiting around twiddling my thumbs. Not sure if it was because it was Thursday, or it was the day after a holiday, but it was a tediously slow process. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Digitalbanana Posted December 12, 2014 Share Posted December 12, 2014 My experience was even longer last month, not even time to wait for the new reentry visa. I presume all Non Imm extensions be they marriage, retirement or education are queued into one, and since ed visas have gained prominence wait times gone through the roof? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
maxx58 Posted December 12, 2014 Author Share Posted December 12, 2014 (edited) You would think that with all of the money generated from Immigration that they would speed-up the process and make it less of a hassle. God forbid they hire more staff and stagger the lunch breaks so that they don't have to close down for an hour and inconvenience everyone. Edited December 12, 2014 by ubonjoe Changed to default font 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jayceenik Posted December 12, 2014 Share Posted December 12, 2014 End October I too had a long wait at CW for my one-year extension. Got queue ticket before 9. Was processed at about 1030 but it was only after lunch at 1 that I finally got the "approval" signature. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
KED Posted December 12, 2014 Share Posted December 12, 2014 I had the same experience a month ago on a Wednesday. I got to Chaeng Wattana at 10:30 AM - got my queue number for the retirement extension but my number did not get called until after lunch. Then, I got a queue number for the multiple reentry permit about 1:30 pm - they processed my number quickly but it took antoher 2 1/2 hours to get my passport back. As a result, I left Chaneg Wattana on the 166 bus to Victory Monuement just before 4:30 PM - it took 30 minutes just to get to the main street and the entire 15 km jouney took 2 1/2 hours - Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jacko45k Posted December 12, 2014 Share Posted December 12, 2014 I am intrigued to know what you acknowledged wrt the overstay rules. As far as I have heard the penalties have not been approved so are not being implemented. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Squeegee Posted December 12, 2014 Share Posted December 12, 2014 "...it was time for lunch so I had to come back after 1pm. Even though there was a line formed, when the door opened everyone just rushed in. Pretty chaotic!" Happens every time. If you are no more than about 6 people away from the doors then by all means queue for presentational purposes. Otherwise, just loiter at a strategic distance and take your part in the dog eat dog mentality. I always feel sorry for the ones making a huge long queue like that, but on the positive I understand it's part of their learning a lesson about living in Asia. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
henksteeghsth Posted December 12, 2014 Share Posted December 12, 2014 Today pattaya immigration came there 13.00 for another year retirement and a reentry stamp everything finish 13.40 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bridge2bridge Posted December 12, 2014 Share Posted December 12, 2014 You would think that with all of the money generated from Immigration that they would speed-up the process and make it less of a hassle. God forbid they hire more staff and stagger the lunch breaks so that they don't have to close down for an hour and inconvenience everyone. Yea at the OLD immigration office, they NEVER closed for lunch. Just rotated staff, not sure why they can not do this again at the new one. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bridge2bridge Posted December 12, 2014 Share Posted December 12, 2014 Today pattaya immigration came there 13.00 for another year retirement and a reentry stamp everything finish 13.40 40 minutes for both. MUST BE A GUINESS BOOK OF RECORDS. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bridge2bridge Posted December 12, 2014 Share Posted December 12, 2014 as if they cannot go eat in shift and keep open during lunch hour ... but hey, show the farangs who is boss Whether they all go to lunch at the same time or not, you still have the same number of people processing the same number of applications. If they stagger the lunch breaks over three hours, that would be a reduced number of people processing over three hours. "...but hey, show the farangs who is boss" Another ridiculous example of farang imagining loss of face. Allowing everyone a midday break for lunch is hardly a power display. Maybe you feel inconvenienced because they go home at night too? Same number of people BUT 1 MORE HOUR to process. Have to be faster. Go figure. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
muffy Posted December 12, 2014 Share Posted December 12, 2014 (edited) They need more locations around the city .When they close for lunch everybody has to leave , that is the rush to get back in . Edited December 12, 2014 by muffy Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
freebyrd Posted December 12, 2014 Share Posted December 12, 2014 I sympathise with you guys, I don't live in TL anymore, I'm close by, none of this sort of performance here. As an aside, I took my then Thai wife to immigration in London circa 1989 to extend her temporary visa. 1) In the door at 8am, took a ticket. 2) 2.15pm, called forward to sign a document. 3) 5.25pm, called forward, given the passport with the visa. The lady at the counter did apologise profusely for the delay. No cafeteria facilities, so we didn't eat lunch for fear of losing our place in the queue. Luckily we took water with us. There were something like 30 windows in the office, I never saw more than 4 working at any one time. There were other foreigners there on their own, some who seemingly sat for hours not even realising they had to take a ticket. So it isn't just in TL, even the sophisticated UK couldn't get it right. Back to TL, one of the reasons I eventually left was because I was tired of being jerked around year after year, several stamps before a visa was granted, even for a non-immigrant B to work. I had a legitimate job but was still made to feel like the alien they describe us as. Life is much less stressful here, that said, one man's meat...... 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Frank James Posted December 12, 2014 Share Posted December 12, 2014 (edited) Today (Dec 12/Friday) dropped in at Chiang Mai Immigration for the 90 Day Report dance. Went to the shed out back for the proper copies. Only had 500 baht, no change for the 6 baht sale, felt guilty, so had them take a set of unnecessary photos, as I was feeling particularly "hansum" today. I was pleased with the pictures, and will pass them out (signed!) to selected friends. Went to the Info Counter for a number, got number 601, was told to come back at 1:30. Showed up at 1:10. They were processing number 578. My number came up at 1:50. Stamped and out the door smiling by 1:55. It was crowded, as usual, but not a record breaker. The mob was orderly and well behaved. As has been pointed out for years on these forums, the main impediment to efficiency at Immigration is farangs not understanding what is required for each particular type of transaction. When you show up with incorrect documents, it screws it up for everyone else down the line. Know before you go. Best regards and Chok Dee to All. FJ Edited December 12, 2014 by Frank James 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Albertnobgammer Posted December 12, 2014 Share Posted December 12, 2014 This could turn into the Monty Python sketch about "luxury" and me living in a shoebox in the middle of the road, but honestly, you have it extremely easy, just try going to immigration at Chiang Mai, it is an absolute nightmare. Doing an extension in Chiang Mai is worse than crawling over fields of broken glass whilst being burned alive for 8 hours. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
KhnomKhnom Posted December 12, 2014 Share Posted December 12, 2014 More whining.......... Oh, my oh my, how much of your valuable drinking time was taken up....... I am dismayed. 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ggt Posted December 12, 2014 Share Posted December 12, 2014 The US Immigration could learn from the Thais on how to hassle tourists and immigrants...that is if they could catch the would be immigrants... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
KhunBENQ Posted December 12, 2014 Share Posted December 12, 2014 Upcountry life has its advantages. Longest time ever spent at Khon Kaen immigration in almost 4 years: about 40 min (too many Burmese ). Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
phetchy Posted December 12, 2014 Share Posted December 12, 2014 Today pattaya immigration came there 13.00 for another year retirement and a reentry stamp everything finish 13.40 More whining.......... Oh, my oh my, how much of your valuable drinking time was taken up....... I am dismayed. KK my sentiments exactly. Who gives a s**t about how long you spend in immigration? You know you have to do it, you know the time taken varies depending on which side of the bed the IO got out of, just get on with it and stop bleating about it. Tomorrow is another day. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
djayz Posted December 12, 2014 Share Posted December 12, 2014 I'm sure the bureaucrats in your/mine/our country/countries are just as efficient (not to mention friendly)... Right? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ATF Posted December 12, 2014 Share Posted December 12, 2014 Why don't you guys just use a visa company they do all the reporting for you. Ok it costs a few thousand baht a year extra but you have the piece of mind that everything has been done for you so you don't have to worry about forgetting to go to Immigration. I've been using the same company for over 15 years never had a problem. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mca Posted December 12, 2014 Share Posted December 12, 2014 Of course they could cut down on the queues by not having somebody like myself trooping up every year to present the same paperwork after being married for 14 years with a daughter they've seen grow up from a baby to a 10 year old. But they won't do that..... 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bkungbank Posted December 12, 2014 Share Posted December 12, 2014 If you fly out from Suvanbhumi or Don Mueang airport, please apply inside the immigration extra 200 Baht worth for paying. Maximun 15 Min for re-entry. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Monkeyrobot Posted December 13, 2014 Share Posted December 13, 2014 I did a 90 day report the other day at the space ship waited 2 hours . They have been very slow of late maybe less staff. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
maxx58 Posted December 13, 2014 Author Share Posted December 13, 2014 I am intrigued to know what you acknowledged wrt the overstay rules. As far as I have heard the penalties have not been approved so are not being implemented. Honestly, I did not pay much mind to it. She gave the papers to my girlfriend to fill out and spoke with her in Thai. She put my name, where I reside, my nationality, age, etc on the papers and I signed them without perusing them. The officer told me that theses papers had to be filled out and signed in front of the officer and could not be downloaded from the computer. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jacko45k Posted December 13, 2014 Share Posted December 13, 2014 I am intrigued to know what you acknowledged wrt the overstay rules. As far as I have heard the penalties have not been approved so are not being implemented. Honestly, I did not pay much mind to it. She gave the papers to my girlfriend to fill out and spoke with her in Thai. She put my name, where I reside, my nationality, age, etc on the papers and I signed them without perusing them. The officer told me that theses papers had to be filled out and signed in front of the officer and could not be downloaded from the computer. Did you happen to notice if they were in Thai only? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
canarysun Posted December 13, 2014 Share Posted December 13, 2014 I still find it amazing that many of you seem to " moan " ( this is Thai Visa after all..... ) about how long you are waiting for in Immigration.Does it really matter how long it takes? some of these things you do once a year or every 90 days.From what i have seen many of you are hardly " in a rush with a busy schedule " and in fact will probably be doing " bugger all " ( inc myself may i add viewers..) anyway so why not just " sit back,relax and just go with the flow ..." Some of you need to learn how to chill - i would thoroughly recommend for you to listen to " Buddha Bar chill out tunes " Good Luck... F.J 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
maxx58 Posted December 13, 2014 Author Share Posted December 13, 2014 I am intrigued to know what you acknowledged wrt the overstay rules. As far as I have heard the penalties have not been approved so are not being implemented. Honestly, I did not pay much mind to it. She gave the papers to my girlfriend to fill out and spoke with her in Thai. She put my name, where I reside, my nationality, age, etc on the papers and I signed them without perusing them. The officer told me that theses papers had to be filled out and signed in front of the officer and could not be downloaded from the computer. Did you happen to notice if they were in Thai only? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
maxx58 Posted December 13, 2014 Author Share Posted December 13, 2014 The papers that she gave my girlfriend were in Thai. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ATF Posted December 13, 2014 Share Posted December 13, 2014 I still find it amazing that many of you seem to " moan " ( this is Thai Visa after all..... ) about how long you are waiting for in Immigration.Does it really matter how long it takes? some of these things you do once a year or every 90 days.From what i have seen many of you are hardly " in a rush with a busy schedule " and in fact will probably be doing " bugger all " ( inc myself may i add viewers..) anyway so why not just " sit back,relax and just go with the flow ..." Some of you need to learn how to chill - i would thoroughly recommend for you to listen to " Buddha Bar chill out tunes " Good Luck... F.J Yes It's probably a big day out for you. Do you mark it down in your calendar? Think of all the money you're saving. Free air-con and water. 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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